[Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne 07] • The Stolen Ones

Destroyed by fire years ago, the infamous Philadelphia State Hospital was known as a warehouse for the criminally insane.

But one man never left.

By night Luther walks Philadelphia's backstreets, drawing to him the mad, the corrupt, the fallen. By day he roams the catacombs beneath the city, killing his prey.

Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are called to a bizarre murder scene: a man has been killed by a railroad spike driven into his head and left sitting on a bench in a local park. But it is just the beginning of a trail of evil that leads back to the hospital and the nightmares it still contains...

ReviewPRAISE FOR RICHARD MONTANARI:

"Richard Montanari's writing is both terrifying and lyrical, a killer combination that makes him a true stand-out in the crowded thriller market. A master storyteller at his very best." (Tess Gerritsen)

"A master storyteller. Be prepared to stay up all night." (James Ellroy)

"Psychologically dark, strangely erotic and definitely hard to put down. A winner." (Nelson Demille, on *Deviant Way*)

"A writer whose prose can capture quite extraordinary subtleties....one of the best in the business". (Thomas H. Cook)

"Richard Montanari's vivid portrayal of a serial killing bad-dream team is sick, kinky, realistic, scary as hell and absolutely great." (Kinky Friedman, on *Deviant Way*)

About the AuthorRichard Montanari was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a traditional Italian-American family. After university, he travelled Europe extensively and lived in London, selling clothing in Chelsea and foreign language encyclopedias door-to-door in Hampstead Heath. Returning to the US, he started working as a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press, the Seattle Times, and many others. He wrote his first book, Deviant Way, in 1996 and it won the OLMA for Best First Mystery. His novels have now been published in more than twenty-five languages.